A variety of different transport systems are available for movement of a patient bed in a healthcare facility. While these systems accomplish the basic task of enabling powered movement of a bed with or without a patient thereon, these systems are not without their issues.
A first example of a patient bed transport system is offered by the Stryker Corporation under the “Zoom” designation, and by the Hill-Rom Company under the “Intellidrive” designation. Both of these systems use two push-pull type controls. The push-pull controls on the sides at the end of the patient bed have a movable handle with a horizontally-oriented hand grip. The horizontally-oriented hand grip is either pushed or pulled for powered movement of the patient bed. Those using patient beds offered by either the Stryker Corporation or the Hill-Rom Company may find difficulty in controlling the speed of movement of the bed while trying to maneuver the bed, especially when steering through crowded hallways and around the corners in the corridors of a healthcare facility. In addition, if a healthcare professional is moving either a patient bed offered by either the Stryker Corporation or the Hill-Rom Company backwards and inadvertently stumbles or falls while pulling back on the control handles, the bed may continue to move and possibly injure the healthcare professional.
A second example of a patient bed transport system is the bariatric bed being offered by Burke, Inc. under the “TriFlex” designation. The bariatric bed offered by Burke, Inc. uses a joystick assembly for controlling the direction and speed of movement of the bed. Healthcare professionals may find that controlling the direction and speed of movement of the bariatric bed offered by Burke, Inc. requires both training and practice. Unfortunately, critical situations in healthcare facilities do not always provide the needed time for training and practice before moving a powered patient bed.
Accordingly, a need remains in the art for devices and methods that improve upon the provision of powered movement capability for patient supports, particularly in ways that require little or no training and practice and are easy and safe to operate, while also being affordable and easy to install, service and maintain.